(Dora Tonks Black - PoV)
Shelving the topic of my siblings' overachiever status for the moment (and the fear of the damage they will be causing in the future) I take a quick look around the compartment.
Coeus, doing the same as me.
Phoebe, still attached to him and ignoring everything around her. Wonderful situation there, could we please go more than a couple weeks without one of the midgets getting broken?
Daphne, squished up in the corner by the door, avoiding the mess as much as possible. Tensed like a spring and eyeing everyone warily.
New girl, Hermione, was right next to the blast. She is cleaning her hair with a totally "this is fine" expression on her face.
Draco, the annoying little shit, clearly quite steamed and desperate for someone to yell at. But the obvious target, Iris,
is fast asleep, and likely near magical exhaustion after pulling off magic so far past her appropriate age and expected skill level it is absolutely not funny.
And right after coming off of her "health issues"...if she tried that a couple of weeks ago?
I can't resist the reflexive shudder.
Damn. Damn damn damn. I am in the same room as them and they are still trying to kill themselves.
And possibly each other. I can't blame Iris for not knowing, but if she had destroyed the trolley? It is very common for powerful enchanted objects like that to have some major blowback when destroyed. As in, they blow the fuck up. Not something most people want to be in close proximity to. Such as, say, a crowded train cabin.
Spatial expansion charms in particular are, of course, notorious for this feature, in addition to tending to empty their contents nearby. Given everything else, I expect that even if we somehow survived the explosion we would have all been crushed to death by candy.
Or eaten by whatever the hell is hiding in there I guess, but that is yet another topic to be shelved for later.
So yes. In trying to protect/get revenge for Coeus, Iris could have killed us all.
And Phoebe is apparently so out of commission she didn't even try to prevent it.
...
Well, that or she knew it would fail, and so didn't bother?
I shake my head.
Ugh, no. No seer head games, I know better than that.
Regardless, Phoebe does seem to be out of it, and I refuse to rely on her anyway.
From my glance around the carriage, we are on the brink of total war. I really need to intervene before Coeus does something to set it off.
"Ok," I say, clapping my hands and looking around the compartment at everyone. "No more. Seriously, this goes for all of you. No more of this shit, for at least the rest of the train ride. There is no way we are making it to Hogwarts alive, much less in one piece, otherwise."
Almost everyone immediately tries to object, with Daphne managing to speak first for once.
"All of us? What do you mean all of us? What in the world have I done?" she asks.
"Right?" Draco agrees. "Don't lump us in with the Black lunatics."
Hermione nods.
I thump Coeus upside the head before he can speak.
"You, don't even get to object."
He glares at me.
"No. Really, don't even try it. You two just...stop. Please, just stop. As for the rest of you,"
I point at Daphne.
"I do remember who cast the first spell at the party. And don't pretend you were not seriously considering throwing spells just now. You have a temper on you and a prickly pride."
My finger moves to Draco.
"Much of the same for you, I could see you looking for someone, anyone, to yell at, though I thank you for refraining from harassing Iris while she is unconscious. Also, you are a Malfoy. Enough said."
He puffs back up, offended, as my finger moves away from him. I really probably shouldn't have added the last bit but couldn't help myself.
Finally, my gaze settles on Hermione.
"I...actually don't know you all that well. And guilt by association is bullshit. So, maybe I was being unfair in your case, I apologize."
"You really weren't." Of course, Coeus just has to speak up. "She fits in perfectly."
Hermione glares at him venomously.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she demands.
"I am petty sure that stabbing a kid in the face because he stole your food fits with the stuff Dora is going on about? Or pulling a girl's hair out because she put gum in yours?"
Hermione freezes in place. Disturbingly so, her face and expression stilling in a way that is very unusual to see on a non-Metamorph.
Yes, thank you so much Coeus. Bring up embarrassing incidents from her past that she is trying to hide in front of everyone while I am trying to defuse things. And the little bastard wonders why all the girls in his life are so "abusive" towards him.
"Then there's the homework, the biting, the -" I cover his mouth.
"Moving on, I hope everyone gets the general picture? You all-" I hesitate. "We all, have issues. Can we please try to settle down for a bit until we get to the school? The wild and dangerous adventures are supposed to happen at the school, not on the train ride..."
Huh, now that I think about it, the Express actually should have a better claim for the title of the safest place in wizarding Britain.
*Thunk*
The hard noise of something hitting the window draws everyone's attention towards the outside, where we find a majestic view.
We are on the side of a mountain range, a bloody ginormus mountain range, higher than I have ever seen, looking out onto the world below, with snow and even hail falling before the windows. Not enough to obscure the view, just enough to add to it.
It is beautiful.
It is also obviously nowhere near Britain, so there goes that idea.
Hermione stands up, pressing her face against the window.
"W-what? Snow?" she asks. "Is this...where are we? The Himalayas? How?"
Coeus shrugs and looks over at me.
"No idea," I admit, "I haven't left Britain. Daphne?"
She shakes her head.
"I only traveled around Europe, and mostly just to family estates."
Hermione turns around and stares at us.
"But...how?" she asks. "How can you all be so blase about," she waves a hand at the window, "That! We are on a different continent! When? How?"
Oh. This is one of those culture shock things, isn't it?
"So?" Coeus asks. "It's the Express. She takes us to Hogwarts, but she likes to show off along the way. Have you not looked out the window at all this trip? I'm pretty sure we have been through at least a dozen different countries already."
The girl's face twitches.
I should intervene before he manages to get her to stab him.
"He's not wrong," I say, drawing her attention toward me. "The Express was made to deliver the students to the school safely, no matter what. It doesn't really follow any actual path, or tracks, which makes it virtually impossible to ambush or attack, a very useful trait during the wars."
I point to the window again.
Hermione spins around to see we are now traveling through a desert.
No oasis. No buildings. No roads.
Just desert.
"The train has taken us through just about everything at one point or another. Forests, jungles, cities, caves, farms. An older Prefect, he's long since graduated, told me they went underwater one year."
The girl twitches again.
Ok, maybe it's not just Coeus then. He might have a point about her having issues.
"Ugh, I would hate to live in a desert," Draco announces from his seat.
Coeus nods.
"Of course. With how pasty you are, I bet you burn instantly without charms don't you?"
"Pasty?! Just because I need charms when it is overly sunny doesn't mean I am pasty! And what about Daphne, she is pale too!"
Coeus shakes his head.
"Daphne is fair. You are pasty. There is a big difference, you of all people know that."
He glances over at her.
"Though I will admit that she probably wouldn't do well in the desert either, none of us would. Well, Dora would be fine."
Shifting to look like a belly dancer I once saw I preen a bit, stretching and showing off.
Being a Metamorph is awesome.
